Medical marijuana patients to legislators: Weed gives us a life

Coloradans for Medical Marijuana Regulations is the local advocacy organization that seems most willing to compromise with officials and legislators about weed rules in these parts; not that the group's frontman, Matt Brown, actually praised Denver City Council's recently approved plan at the same time high profile attorney Rob Corry was saying it would harm patients and cause suffering.

Now, COMMR is attempting to appeal to those legislators on day two of a session in which medical marijuana is likely to be a tokin' hot topic with tales of MM patients -- like, for instance, Sharon Brown, seen in the video above, who suffers from various autoimmune disorders and credits medical marijuana with giving her a decent quality of life.

Look below to see more patient videos, along with COMMR synopses that briefly tell their stories:

ANNIE NOEL: Annie Noel, a former truck driver, was severely injured in a major accident. "They sent the coroner out to scrape me off the road," she said, and later her doctor told her she would never walk again. But Annie went through intense rehabilitation and never gave up. Today, she can walk and is an active member of her church and her community." The one thing that helps my pain more than anything else is medical marijuana."

JANNA HUDSON: Before Janna Hudson received her medical marijuana license in June 2009, severe digestive and neurological issues led to an ongoing struggle with extreme pain, hernias and muscle spasms. Lack of hunger and inability to swallow dropped her weight to a deadly 98 pounds. And a series of surgeries coupled with an allergy to opiates such as morphine, ibuprofen and codeine have compounded her struggle. "Medical marijuana is all I have," she said. Since using medical marijuana, Janna is able to eat and can enjoy a life free of the extreme pain she has dealt with since birth.

DILLON PRICE: Dillon Price is 15 years old and suffers from Lyme disease. From the onset of this disease, Dillon has lost 60 pounds and was unable to gain any weight or maintain his appetite through traditional medications. This has recently changed for Dillon thanks to medical marijuana. He has an appetite, almost no nausea, and is now able to take any additional medications besides medical marijuana. The pain associated with Lyme disease has subsided and Dillon is able to lead the life a 15-year-old boy should be leading.

WILLIAM CHENGALIS: William Chengalis suffers from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), chronic pain in his hand from falling off a ladder, hepatitis C and bipolar disorder. The string of traditional medicines William maintained for the past five years were slowing working to destroy his liver. But now he has the option to use medical marijuana and piece by piece his life is returning to what it was prior to five year ago. "I'm not taking a narcotic and to me that's important," explains William.

CONNIE CANTRELL: Connie suffers from chronic pain due to a car accident, which tore the muscle in her upper left arm and having an 11-pound tumor removed from her torso. Not your typical medical marijuana patient, Connie is well past her mid-twenties and deals with constant pain every day. Medical marijuana has helped ease the tension and relax enough to get some sleep to make it through the following day.